Church flagged for green efforts
Rev. Neil Gray will lead celebrations Sunday marking the White Rock Church of the Holy Trinity's accreditation as a 'green' parish.
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Updated: October 01, 2009 3:46 PM
After 18 months of taking on environmentally friendly initiatives, White Rock’s Church of the Holy Trinity is officially ‘green.’
The accreditation was passed down from its diocese, which began a couple of years ago encouraging its Lower Mainland congregations to promote environmental stewardship.
Those that fulfill a checklist of ecological measures receive the title and a green flag to fly over the church.
To reach that goal, Holy Trinity members here organized a Green Team and began carpooling. They also replaced electrical appliances with energy-efficient options, abandoned chemical fertilizers and installed low-flush toilets.
On Sunday, the congregation will celebrate the feast of St. Francis, a man Rev. Neil Gray said was motivated by nature.
After the morning service, the green flag will be blessed and carried out of the church by one of the youngest and oldest parishioners.
“It will be a kind of symbolic action where we celebrate what we’ve achieved and remind ourselves it’s an ongoing process,” Gray said.
The church will continue its efforts, he added, by reducing its garbage, providing education, planting trees and considering the use of thermal energy.
While Gray isn’t sure how many other parishes have received the accreditation, he hopes it sets an example for Anglican and non-Anglican churches alike.
“Our theology is that God is the energy behind creation and we are the stewards of the Earth, we don’t own it, and it’s our Christian responsibility to ensure that we protect it, sustain it and keep it in as good a shape as possible for the generations that follow after us,” he said.
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